Guard rail for folding berths



Jan. 29, 1952 WOLLER 2,583,760

GUARD RAIL. FOR FOLDING BERTHS Filed Sept. 24, 1948 2 Sl-IEE'IS -SHEET 1 Jan. 29, 1952 WQLLER 2,583,760

GUARD RAIL FOR FOLDING BERTHS Filed Sept. 24, 1948 2 SHEETSr-SHEET 2 l8 (/6 izz Patented Jan. 29, 1952 "Edward Weller, "-Kenosha, Wis., ass'igno'r to Simmons Company, New YorkgN. Y., a corporation or Delaware ia ipuesii'on September 24, 1948, Serial mfisi'bos realms. (01. -4)) Q1 'The main objects of thisinvention are, to provide an improved"form'ofguard'rail for use on berths of the type thataresWingabIymounted on a supporting frame'for movement between an open, horizontally-disposed; sleeping position and a closed, vertically-disposed, non-usableposition;

to provide improved mearisfor causing said guard rail to be automatically shiftedbetween its erect and collapsed positioris'by the swinging of said bed bottom between its open and closed positions; to 'provide'an improvedgua'rd rail'of'this I kind comprising right=arigularly-disposed sections mountable at one ofth'e outer corners of said bed bottom; to provide a guard rail and actuating means of this kind particularly adapted I for use on berths that are suspended from a supporting frame ona mechanism" whereby the'pivot of said mechanism to'said bed bottomshifts as said bed bottom is swung between its open and closed positions; andt'o provide a guard rail and actuating means of this kin dfwhichi simple and economical to construct, facile toassemble,

and positive in operation.

being shifted into its vertically-disposed position;

Fig. 4 is a View similarto'l ig. 1 but showing the relative position of theguard V rail when a the berth is in its fully closed vertically retracted position; and I, l

Fig. 5 is a front side elevation of the guard rail end ofthe berth with the-parts in-the positions showninFig. 2. r I

As indicated in thedrawings; a berth, to which an improved guard rail cons'tructed inaccordance with this invention has'been applied, comprises a supporting framei whereo'n 'is swingably mounted a bed bottom (by means of suspension means 8, and on which bed bottom is mounted the improved guard rail 3 'for shiftin'gbetween its erect and collapsed positions as the bed bottom 1 is swung between its; open, horizontallydisposed, sleeping; position and'its closed, vertically-disposed, non-usableposition.

The supporting frame 46, preferably pr'essedn." in) 2 steel, inciude's a back'ill an'd apair of endfpanels I i The forward ed'ges of-the latter are 'formed with inwardly-disposed flanges l2 "which serve to frame the bed bottom 1 in its closed position. Brackets [3 are secured to the respective end panels I I'near the back H] to providesupport-for one of the links of the suspension mechanism 8,

to be more fully described hereinafter,- and for the support of a rubber bumper M which co-acts with the suspension mechanism 8 -to cause' horizontal disposition of thebedbottom'l.

The bed bottom 1,"likewise a unitary pressed steel construction, is formed witha bottom I5, transverse lateral sides Is and -l1,and ends IE on and withinwhic h is supported a'mattress l9 (see Fig. 1). On each of'theends 1-8 is secured brackets 20 and 2| whereto isc'onnected "apart of the suspension mechanism 8. V

The suspension mechanism 8 'herein'shown is of a construction more "fullyjset forthin copending application'serial No.51",006, filed Sept. 24, 1948. In the main it comprises a rocker arm 22, a pair of suspension links 23 and and a spacing link 25, located at each end of the berth.

Therocker arm 22 is pivoted at 26 to a trunnion plate 21 mounted onthe'inner'fa'oe of the frame end panel H. The imkie "is pivoted at 28 to the rockerarm 22 and'at 29 tothe bracket'20. The link 24 is slightly bent at 30 whereby the two parts thereof are disposed" at a slight angle to each other. The upper portion of the link 24 is pivoted at 3| to therockerarm 22 whereas the lower portion is pivoted at 32 to the bracket 2 I.

The'spacing link 25 is pivoted at 33 "to the frame bracket l3 and-at 34 to the bed bottom bracketZl.

It should be understood that the type of suspension means herein "shown and described is by no meansessential to theiguard rail 9 presently to be described. Other forms of suspension means may be used with equal facility.

The improved guard "rail 9, constructed in accordance with this 'invention, comprises aside member 35 and an end member 35 whose simultaneous shifting between the erect positions shown in Fig. 2 and the'c'ollapsedpositions shown in Fig. 4 is efiecte'dby meens' nr an'ac'tuating link 31.

The side member 35-is hinged to a pair of posts 38 and 39 welded or otherwise secured to -the outer lateral side l6 of the bed bottom l. The posts 38 and 39 are of suchaheightthatthe axis of the hinge connection 40 is located aslightly above the plane of the top of a mattress l9 (shown in dotted outline in-Figi l) supponted on the bed shown in Fig. 4, the side member 35 is permitted to fold down against the mattress l9 and whatever bedding may be on it.

The end member 36 is pivoted at 4| to the upper rail of the side member 35 and adjacent its inner end is supported by a link 42 pivoted to the bracket at 29 (the pivot for the link 23) and at 43 to the lower rail of said end member 36. Thus the end member 36, by reason of the hinge connection of the side member 35 to the bed bottom 1, is in effect supported on a pair of links and is adapted to move in its own plane rearwardly downward andforwardly upward as the side member 35 shifts between its erect and collapsed positions.

The actuating link 3?, by means of which the guard rail 9 is shifted between its erect and collapsed positions, is pivoted at 44 to the forward end of the adjacent bed-bottom spacing link 25 and at 45 intermediate the pivotal connections of the link 42 to the bracket 20 and the end'member 38. As will be noted, the forward end of the link 31 is turned up slightly to ensure the proper shifting action of the guard rail 9 when the bed bottom 1 is swung on its suspension means 8.

The operation of this improved guard rail is as follows:

When the bed bottom I is swung down from its vertically disposed, non usable position, as shown in Fig. 4, the suspension means a (which, as previously pointed out, includes the spacing link 25) causes the lateral side ll to move inwardly and upwardly as the lateral side it moves downwardly and outwardly. At the same time the spacing link 25 moves upawrdly and outward- 1157 about its pivot 33 until the lateral side i? strikes the rubber bumper IB which determines the horizontal disposition of the bed bottom I.

The corresponding upward and outward movement of the pivot 44 on the spacing link 25 shifts the actuating link 37 outwardly along the bedbottom end I 8. This outward shifting movement of the link 31 is, in turn, transmitted to the link 52 at the pivot point 45 thereby rotating the link 42 about the pivot 29 toward an erect position more or less perpendicular to the plane of the bed bottom I. This in turn moves the end member 36 of the guard rail 9 upwardly and outwardly in its own plane whereupon the side member 35 is rotated about the pivot points 42 into the erect position shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

When the bed bottom is shifted from its horizontally-disposed position toward its verticallydisposed position the inner lateral side i1 of the bed bottom tends to move downward and outwardly whereupon the downward and backward movement ofthe outer end of the link 25 causes the link 3! to swing the link 42 inwardly around its pivot 29. This inwardly swinging movement of the link 42 shifts the end member 36 of the guard rail 9 downwardly and inwardly in its own plane and, by virtue of the pivotal connection between the members 35 and 35, also causes the member 35 to swing downwardly about the pivots 4i} toward its collapsed position. An intermedi ate position of these parts during the shifting of the bed bottom toward its vertically-disposed position is indicated in Fig. 3.

Variations and modifications in the details of structure and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to within the spirit and covera e of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1..In a-device ofthe class described, the com- 4 bination of a supporting frame, a bedbottom swingably mounted on said frame for movement between a horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a vertically-disposed non-usable position, a guard rail hingedly mounted on one of the sides of said bed bottom and swingable between a vertically-erect position when said bed bottom is in its horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a collapsed position approximating parallelism with the plane of said bed bottom when said bed bottom is in its vertically-disposed position, and link means connecting said guard rail with said frame whereby said rail is automatically shifted between the aforesaid positions with the swinging of said berth between its horizontal and vertical positions.

2. In a device of the class described, the com- 'bination of a supporting frame, a bed bottom swingably mounted on said frame for movement between a horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a vertically-disposed non-usable position, a guard rail hingedly mounted on one of the sides of said bed bottom and swingable between a vertically-erect position when said bed bottom is in its horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a collapsed position approximating parallelism with the plane of said bed bottom when said bed bottom is in its vertically-disposed position, and link means connecting said guard rail with said frame and said bed bottom whereby said rail is automatically shifted between the aforesaid positions with the swinging of said berth between its horizontal and vertical positions.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting frame, a bed bottom, link mechanism pivoted to said frame and supporting said bed bottom on a pivot which moves horizontally inwardly and outwardly as said bed bottom is shifted between a horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a vertically-disposed non-usable position, a guard rail hingedly 'mounted on one of the sides of said bed bottom and swingable between a vertically-erect position when said bed bottom is in its horizontallydisposed sleeping position and a collapsed position approximating parallelism with the plane'of said bed bottom when said bed bottom is in its vertically-disposed position, and link means connecting said guard rail with said frame and said bed bottom whereby said rail is automatically shifted between the aforesaid positions with the swinging of said berth between its horizontal and vertical positions.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting frame, a bed bottom swingably mounted on said frame for movement between a horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a vertically-disposed non-usable position, a side rail hinged on the outer lateral side of said bed bottom, a transverse end rail pivoted to said side rail so as to be movable in its own plane when said side rail is shifted on its pivot, and link means connecting said transverse end rail with said frame whereby with theswinging of said berth between its horizontal and vertical positions said side rail is automatically shifted between a vertically-erect position when said bed bottom is its horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a collapsed position approximating parallelism with the plane of said bed bottom when said bed bottom is in its vertically-disposed position.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting frame, a bed bottom swingablymounted on said frame for-movement between a horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a vertically-disposed non-usable position, a side rail hinged on posts mounted on the outer lateral side of said bed bottom so as to dispose the axis of the hinge approximately in the plane of the upper surface of a mattress resting on said bed bottom, a transverse end rail pivoted to said side rail so as to be movable in its own plane when said side rail is shifted on its pivot, and link means connecting said transverse end rail with said frame whereby with the swinging of said berth between its horizontal and vertical positions said side rail is automatically shifted between a vertically-erect position when said bed bottom is in its horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a collapsed position approximating parallelism with the plane of said bed bottom when said bed bottom is in its vertically-disposed position.

6. In a folding berth, the combination of a support, a bed bottom pivotally mounted on said support so as to be foldable to and from hori zontal bed position from and to vertically disposed folded position, a guard structure in substantially parallel relation to and adjacent a side of said bed bottom which extends transversely of the axis of the pivot mounting of the bed bottom on said support, said guard structure comprising a rail and a pair of spaced links each having its opposite ends pivoted to said rail and to said bed bottom respectively, the axes of said link pivots being substantially parallel to the pivot axis of said bed-bottom mounting whereby said guard structure is shiftable sidewise relative to said bed bottom, and linkage connecting said guard structure to a portion of said support spaced from said pivot mounting and operative to eflfect sidewise shifting of said 6 guard structure as an' incident to the folding movements of said bed bottom.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supporting frame, a bed bottom swingably mounted on said frame for movement between a horizontally-disposed sleeping portion and a vertically-retractable non-usable position, a side rail hinged on the outer lateral side of said bed bottom, a transverse end rail pivoted at its outer end to said side rail and supported adjacent its inner end by means of a link pivoted to said bed frame so as to be movable in its own plane when said side rail is shifted on its pivot, and link means connecting said first-mentioned link with said frame whereby with the swinging of said berth. between its horizontal and vetrical positions said side rail is automatically shifted between a vertical1yerect position when said bed bottom is in its horizontally-disposed sleeping position and a collapsed position approximating parallelism with the plane of said bed bottom when said bed bottom is in its vertically-retracted position.

EDWARD E. WOLLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,349,962 Janson et al Aug. 17, 1926 1,359,637 'Ihoris et a1. Nov. 23, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 10,413 Great Britain July 26, 188? 350,392 Germany Aug. 7, 1920 

